Following the death of ten tigers including cubs in the Nilgiris forest, authorities have installed 40 closed-circuit televisions (CCTV) at various parts of the forest to keep a close eye on tigers and any perpetrators. In the past 40-45 days four adult tigers and six cubs died in Nilgiris forest. The death of tigers including cubs which occurred in just over a month in the Nilgiris district has caused great controversy.
While speaking to ANI, the Field Director of Mudumalai Tiger Reserve, D Venkatesh said that out of these deaths two adult tigers were poisoned in the Emerald area of the Nilgiri forest division. This was confirmed after they got the laboratory test results.
An accused has been held, Venkatesh told ANI. They have seen the identical footmarks in 6-7 places.
The forest department has so far not found the two mother tigresses of the dead tiger cubs. The team of National Tiger Commission Crime Branch were inquiring about the causes of the tiger deaths in Nilgiri district forest area this year.
“In total, in 40 places we have installed CCTV cameras and we are monitoring the cameras every 4-5 days,” Venkatesh told ANI. They are using the tiger images from the camera with existing images to keep a track of the tigers. Also, they are collecting samples to conduct DNA analysis to identify the mother. While it is extremely difficult to identify the mother in the wild, they are taking all measures possible to do so. Since the mother tiger never leaves her cubs more than 200 metres away, an investigation is being conducted with a point of view that the mother tigers may have been hunted.
He said that the team will have to be on alert for a minimum of 45 days.